Spooks: The Greater Good (Blu-ray) (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Featurette-Making Of Interviews-Cast & Crew Featurette-Behind The Scenes Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	103:47
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bharat Nalluri
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Kit Harrington Peter Firth Jennifer Ehle Tuppence Middleton Tim McInnerney
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Dominic Lewis

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Leaving aside soap operas and Doctor Who one of the longest running recent UK television series was Spooks which ran from 2002 to 2011 providing a high quality series about counter terrorism in MI-5, the UK's domestic intelligence service. During its long run, the lead cast changed a number of times, however one constant was Peter Firth as Harry Pearce, Head of Counter Intelligence. This character returns along with a few others in this new theatrically released movie, Spooks: The Greater Good produced in 2015. Other returning characters include Head of MI-5, the snaky Oliver Mace (Tim McInnerney) and Francis Warrander, the government liaison (David Harewood). Important new characters for this movie are Will Holloway (Kit Harrington), a disgraced former agent, new Deputy Director of MI-5 Geraldine Maltby (Jennifer Ehle) and frontline agent, June Keaton (Tuppence Middleton).

     The story opens with a captured terrorist being transported across London under the control of Harry and his team. They become stuck in traffic and the convoy is ambushed by terrorists, resulting in the release of Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) who plans to attack targets in the UK. Harry is sacked from his job due to the bungle however he believes that it was an inside job and goes rogue in order to prove his innocence. Based on Harry's attempts to contact him, Will Holloway is brought back into the fold by MI-5 as they believe he will be able track down Harry and stop Qasim. He is reluctant as he blames Harry for his career ending in ignominy. However, when Oliver hints that Harry knows more about Will's father's death than had been revealed previously, Holloway agrees to get involved. June Keaton was a member of the team who were transporting Qasim and also gets actively involved in trying to hunt Harry down. Will they be able to find Harry, stop Qasim and/or work out if there is a traitor before Qasim causes more innocent deaths in London?

     Fans of the original series will love this new movie as it certainly has the same feel as the series although with a bigger budget. It is exciting and entertaining without coming up to the quality of some of the bigger recent theatrical thrillers, just from an epic scale perspective. It certainly fits well with the rest of the series from a tone and style perspective and it is great to see Harry Pearce back in action. The film received a short theatrical release in the UK and a few other countries but not the US or Australia. Kit Harrington of Game of Thrones fame is a nice addition and does a good job as Holloway. The rest of the quality cast of English actors also perform well which carries the story well. The music by Dominic Lewis is high class adding to the tension and action sequences. The film is generally well shot and tightly directed. There are no real surprises in the plot but it does keep you guessing as to who the insider is.

     This is easy to recommend to fans of the series but others may find it a little formulaic although well put together.

Video

     This is a quality transfer to Blu-ray presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 at 1080p. Generally speaking this is nicely sharp and looks good although there is some occasional motion blur and some blotchiness on faces, especially Harry Firth. There is also some mild but regular aliasing.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are not available from a menu option and must be turned on using your remote control button for subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The soundtrack is in English DTS HD-MA 5.1 and is certainly better than the video transfer. There is also a DTS HD-MA 2.0 stereo track again only available via your remote control button for audio rather than a menu selection. The 5.1 track is really good with booming bass really filling out the explosions, accidents and gunshots. The surrounds also do a good job providing significant ambiance and surround effects during action sequences. All round a high quality track for a relatively low budget film. Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     A decent selection of extras. Presented in 1080p and HD-MA 2.0 sound, although without subtitles.

Menu

     The menu is cool involving motion and music from the film.

The Making of... (11:01)

     Basic EPK style making of which features the usual footage from the film, interview snippets and discussion of the script and themes.

Cast & Crew Interviews (2:39, 3:58, 2:53, 4:17, 2:41, 7:23, 2:02, 4:53)

     Again standard EPK fare with onscreen questions between sections. Covers characters, story, working with the others, etc. Includes Peter Firth, Kit Harrington, Elyes Gabel, Tuppence Middleton, Tim McInnerney, the director and 2 producers.

Behind the Scenes (4:44)

     On set footage with no information or commentary. Shooting stunts and various sequences

Theatrical Trailer (1:33)

     With 5.1 lossless sound.

Other Madman Propaganda

    The Region B UK version of this disc is very similar replacing the behind the scenes footage with deleted scenes strangely. There is no Region A version at this point. Buy local.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is excellent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall